THE 

CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 

OF AMERICA 

People's Edition 


THE CONSTITUTIONAL LEAGUE OE AMERICA 
122 WEST FORTY-NINTH STREET NEW YORK 














THE 

CONSTITUTION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 

OF AMERICA 

People's Edition 

Published Section by Section, with 
Brief Notes on Points of Every-day Value 

Edited by 

MATTHEW PAGE ANDREWS, M. A. 

Author of "The American’s Creed and Its Meaning,” "History of 
the United States,” "A Heritage of Freedom,” Etc. 


Copyright 1920 
The Constitutional League 
of America 


THE CONSTITUTIONAL LEAGUE OF AMERICA 
122 West Forty-ninth Street . . New York 






The CONSTITUTIONAL LEAGUE 

OF AMERICA 



National Committee 


Gen. John J. Pershing 
Herbert C. Hoover 
Franklin D. Roosevelt 
William Phillips 


Charles E. Hughes 
A. Mitchell Palmer 
Alfred E. Smith 


Franklin K. Lane 
Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood 
Theodore Roosevelt 
Morgan J. O'Brien 
James Cardinal Gibbons 
Guy Emerson 
William H. Edwards 


Herbert C. Pell, Jr. 
Bishop Charles S. Burch 


Rev. Joi h Silverman 
Joseph rtigan 
Manny Strauss 



Jeremiah W. Jenks 
William B. Marsh 


wm. deforest manice 

Treasurer 


JEROME A; MYERS 


Director 


What It Is: 


The Constitutional League is a voluntary association of 
citizens who believe in the Government of the United States 
and who consider its underlying principles, as evidenced by 
the Constitution, a true expression of the fundamental rights 
and liberties of the people. 


Its Platform: 


If the people of America read and understand the Consti¬ 
tution of the United States, there will be no question of any 
other form of government for America. 


What It Proposes to Do: 


1. Put a copy of the United States Constitution into every 

one of the twenty million homes in America. 

2. Explain the Constitution by the spoken word in every 

public forum. 

3. Translate the Constitution into not less than sixteen 

foreign languages commonly [spoken and read by 
Americans of foreign birth and extraction. 

4. Explain the Constitution by means of motion picture 

slides and films in the 16,200 motion picture houses of 
America. 


What It Will Accomplish: 


1. The preservation of American ideals. 

2. The development of a clearer and more general under¬ 

standing of these ideals by all the people. 

3. The encouragement of any activity, whether or not 

initiated by the League, which will lead to sound 
Americanism. 

4. The encouragement of open discussion of questions af¬ 

fecting the fundamental principles upon which Amer¬ 
ican institutions are based. 

5. The education of the people in the principles underlying 

the Constitution of the United States. 


u y Transfer 


7U72 1 1920 




PREFACE 


T lHE important parts of the Constitution 
are those which guard the rights of 
American citizens and guarantee life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In them 
are set forth the great 'principles of government 
that all Americans should know. 

These principles, touching directly the lives of 
all of us, are made the basis of comment in the 
following pages. This comment follows the pub¬ 
lication, section by section, of the Constitution. 
Attention is drawn only to the more vital parts 
so that anyone may, in a short while, get a 
working knowledge of the frame work of the gov¬ 
ernment under which we live . 


In order to be brief, space is not taken up in 
discussion of historical or legal points which 
have little bearing on the everyday interests of the 
average citizen . Comment upon these less prac¬ 
tical matters is omitted as not in keeping with 
the aims of this “popular edition” of the Amer¬ 
ican Declaration of Government, a declaration 
described by a great European statesman as 
“the most wonderful work ever struck off at a 
given time by the brain and purpose of man.” 




FOREWORD 


M EN cannot live apart from their 
fellow men. Since men cannot live 
by themselves, they form groups; and 
these groups soon begin to live under some form 
of government. 

Why Government? 

Governments are either set up under kings 
and autocrats, or the people themselves create 
their own government through their chosen 
representatives. There can be no question 
whether or not government shall remain. The 
only question is what kind of government we 
shall have. 

Government and Civilization 
Civilization is a product of government and 
is the result of man’s success in raising himself 
above the level of beasts. The moment men 
get together and agree to any kind of plan, civi¬ 
lization begins. By means of government, civi¬ 
lization aims to increase human happiness by 
restraining wrong and protecting the weak. 
Should these first aims of government be given up, 
men would again become savages , and nothing 
zoould be safe. Every man’s life would be in the 
hands of those stronger than he. So would his 
wife, his children, his home, and everything he 
may possess. 

Good Citizenship 

A good citizen is one who knows how to live 
with his neighbors. No baby is born a good 
citizen, for a baby does not think of anyone but 
himself. A baby may, and does, however, grow 
into a citizen who is either bad or good, accord¬ 
ing to training, surroundings, and opportunity. 
Whatever the baby may become, he or she has a 
desire to do right—a desire no man or woman 




ever altogether loses. This is what makes for 
hope in the world when everything, at times, 
seems hopeless. It is the moral instinct— the 
instinct to be “square ” which, little or big, exists 
in every human being. 

Self-Government Based on Self-Control 

The safety of self-government among free 
men is based on the self-control of those who 
vote and thereby make new laws or change old 
ones. Those who have not learned to control 
themselves are usually controlled by others. Either 
they are driven along by a few, or else they are 
led along to their own undoing by smooth- 
talking men who, to get power for themselves, 
promise many things they know they cannot or 
ought not to carry out. 

The power of public opinion is the greatest 
power in the world . Among civilized human 
beings, the ballot must more and more take the 
place of the bullet. Intelligent use of the ballot, 
together with respect for the will of the majority 
of the people, makes for the greatest amount of 
freedom and happiness for all. 

Knowledge of the Constitution 
the Concern of All 

America is the happiest and most prosperous 
country in the world today, largely because it 
has been able to use the ballot longest and the 
bullet least. Although a young nation among 
the great Powers of the Earth, the United 
States of America has the oldest form of govern¬ 
ment; or, more accurately, the one which has 
lasted longest without destructive change. It 
must be a matter of the highest interest to every 
American citizen , native-born or adopted , to know 
how such a Government was created , how it oper¬ 
ates, and how it may be made the means of further 
progress in promoting human happiness. 




Origin of the Constitution 


In 1783, thirteen American States, with fewer people in 
all of them than now make up the population of the city of 
New York, had won their independence after 
The Old seven years of war against the rule of a self- 

on e eration w jjj ec j k; n g. For several years more, they tried 
to live under a loose form of government called a Confederation. 

This Government was very weak because each State 
wanted to have its own way in too many things. Since, 
therefore, the central Government was weak, the States be¬ 
gan to drift farther and farther apart, so that all the fruits of 
liberty and independence, got together at great sacrifice by the 
people, seemed about to be lost. Like a bundle of sticks, the 
Thirteen States were strong if bound together. Separated, 
however, all might have been easily broken by any power from 
without. 


In 1787, therefore, a number of the best and wisest 
men from all the States came together in convention and 
drew up a stronger form of government, which 
^Tthe ti0n th e y Set ^ OT ^ i document known as 

Federal Union ^e Constitution of the United States. 

On September 17 , 1787 , the Convention 
adopted this plan of popular government and it was submitted 
to the several States for approval or rejection. By June 21, 
1788, the required number of States had ratified the Consti¬ 
tution; and, on April 30, 1789, it was put into effect with the 
inauguration of George Washington, the first President of the 
Republic. Since then it has bestowed a greater amount of 
freedom and happiness upon a greater number of human 
beings than any form of government ever devised by man. 





in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic 
Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general 
Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our 
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America. 

In these fifty-two words, the framers of the 
Constitution of the United States, acting 
for the people, set forth the purpose of their 
labors. Herein is stated all that they planned 
to do and all that the Government of the United 
States has done or may expect to do. 

First, the founders of the Constitution created 
“a more perfect union” of the several States 
under a popular form of government. 

Secondly, they planned to insure justice and 
peace at home, and a means of common defense 
against foes without. 

Finally, in the Constitution itself, they pro¬ 
vided for the preservation of the “blessings of 
liberty,” which they had won for themselves 
through the sword, and which they hoped to 
leave to their children to enjoy forever. 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


ARTICLE I 

Section I 

1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress 
of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. 

Most of us know that Congress is the body which 
makes the laws of the Nation and that it sits in Wash¬ 
ington. Beyond this, how many of us have taken the 
pains to find out how the machinery of our National 
Government works ? 

This machinery is set up in the Seven Articles of the 
Constitution and the several Amendments. 

The powers of Congress are not only stated in the 
body of the Constitution, but it is made clear that they 
. . are granted by the people. The source, 

of the Powers therefore, of all the powers of Congress lies 

of Congress i n the people , whose delegates in 1787 drew 

up the Constitution and provided the 
people with the means of changing it. 

Section II 

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members 
chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the 
Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors 
of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. 

2. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that 
State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several States which may be included within this Union, according to 
their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a 
Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other 
Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years 
after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within 
every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by 
Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Repre¬ 
sentative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode- 

8 





UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, 
New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, 
Virginia ten. North Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

4. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, 
the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such 
Vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and 
other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. 

The important facts that concern us in Paragraph 1 
are that the Congressman who represents us is “chosen” 
every second year; and that the people of 
Choice and the several States decide who shall be per- 
*the House °of to vote i n eac ^ State. Pennsyl- 

Representatives vania, for example, may have for its “elec¬ 
tors” or voters “qualifications” or require¬ 
ments quite different from those laid down by the laws of 
Illinois, Michigan, or California, and they may also be 
different from those in the neighboring States of Ohio and 
Maryland. 

In Paragraph 2, the Constitution shows clearly to 
all the world the liberal spirit in which America was 
founded; for a foreign-born citizen may be elected to the 
National House of Representatives after only seven 
years’ residence in the United States. 

The greater part of Paragraph 3 in Section II relates 
to matters of historical interest only. That which chiefly 
concerns us now is that this Section determines how many 
Representatives there shall be in the Lower House of 
Congress. The number allotted to each State is based on 
its relative population. The 66th Congress (1919-1921) 
numbered 435 Representatives, and its membership 
was based on the census of 1910. 

Direct taxes, apportioned according to the popula¬ 
tion of the several States, are not now made use of by the 
Federal Government. National or Federal funds are 
raised almost wholly by means of stamps, personal and 
corporation income taxes, excess profits taxation, and 
9 





THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


duties on imports of foreign goods. (See Section VIII, 
also Amendment XVI, on “taxes, duties, imposts, and 
excises,” etc.) 

In Paragraph 4, attention is again drawn to the dual or 
“two-sided” nature of the American form of Government; 
namely, (1) the several State Governments , on the one hand, 
and (2) the Federal Government at Washington on the other. 
In this case, the Governor of the State concerned is given 
the power by the Federal Congress to call a special elec¬ 
tion to fill any place made vacant in the representation of 
his State in the Lower House of Congress. State Sover¬ 
eignty—National Union is the motto of the great State of 
Illinois. 

In Paragraph 5, the Constitution empowers the House 
of Representatives to “impeach,” or call to account. 
Federal officials for crime or misdemeanor. One Presi¬ 
dent was “impeached” by the House of Representatives, 
but was acquitted after trial in the Senate, the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court presiding. 

Section III 

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Sen¬ 
ators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; 
and each Senator shall have one Vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the 
first Election, they shall be divided as equally as maybe into three Classes. 
The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Ex¬ 
piration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the 
fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year; 
so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies 
happen by Resignation or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature 
of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments 
until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Va¬ 
cancies. 

3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the 
Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which 
he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. 


10 





UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President 
pro tempore in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall 
exercise the Office of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. 
When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall 
preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of 
two-thirds of the Members present. 

7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
Office of honor. Trust, or Profit under the United States: but the Party 
convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, 
Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. 

Section IV 

1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators 
and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature 
thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such 
Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and 
such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall 
by Law appoint a different Day. 

Section III relates to the Upper House of Congress, 
or the Senate. The framers of the Constitution believed 
that the Senate should be composed of 
*Ch° iC€ f more experienced men; viz., over 30 years 
the Senate °f a g e an d of at least nine years’ residence in 

the United States. They also believed that 
the Senators ought to be chosen by the Legislatures of the 
several States for a period of six years, three times as long 
as the term of a Representative in the Lower House. 
The several States, without regard to their size or popu¬ 
lation, have two Senators each. With 48 States, there¬ 
fore, the Senate to-day has 96 members. 

It was so arranged at the beginning that one-tliird of 
the Senate should come up for re-election “every second 
year” In case of resignation, death, or disability, the 
Governor of the State concerned was originally given the 
power of appointment of a temporary successor until the 
State Legislature should elect a new Senator. Amend- 

11 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


ment XVII, (page 31), however, provides for the direct 
election of the Senators by the people, as in the case of the 
House of Representatives. 

Section V 

1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and 
Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a 
Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, 
in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. 

2. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish 
its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a Member. 

3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their 
Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of 
either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one-fifth of those 
Present, be entered on the Journal. 

4. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without 
the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section V relates to the management of the business 
and the discipline of the members of the House and the 
Senate. 

Any American citizen may keep informed on the 
doings of Congress by reading the Congressional Record , 
which publishes daily the proceedings of the 
^bcipline^f ® ouse w ^ en Congress is in Session. In 
Congress many cases, 

glad to send out their speeches or arguments. 
These speeches, at request of the members, are published 
by the Government Printing Office in special pamphlet 
form and “franked,” or sent free of postage, to those who 
wish them or who may be interested in reading them. 

Section VI 

l. # The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation 
for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury 
of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony 
and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attend- 

12 


Congressmen and Senators are 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


ance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and re¬ 
turning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate m either House, 
they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of 
the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person 
holding any Office under the United States, shall be a member of either 
House during his Continuance in Office. 

Section VII 

1. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amend¬ 
ments as on other Bills. 

2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall 
return it, with his Objections, to that House in which it shall have orig¬ 
inated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and 
proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of 
that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the 
Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, 
and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. 
But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by 
Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the 
Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any 
Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays 
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a 
Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their 
Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. 

3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of 
the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of Adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the 
United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by 
him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the 
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limita¬ 
tions prescribed in the Case of a Bill. 

Section VI relates to the salaries of Senators and 
Representatives and to certain privileges 
ffembers^ granted to and restrictions upon the members 
of either House. 

Section VII provides that the House of Represen¬ 
tatives, which is the House nearest or most directly 
responsible to the will of the people , should be the body to 
introduce bills for raising revenue by taxation of the people . 


13 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


Section VIII 

1. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, 
Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common 
Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Im¬ 
posts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; 

2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; 

3. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian Tribes; 

4. To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform 
Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

5. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, 
and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 

6. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities 
and current Coin of the United States; 

7. To establish Post-Offices and post Roads; 

8. To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing 
for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their 
respective Writings and Discoveries; 

9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; 

10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the 
high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 

11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and 
make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 

12. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; 

13. To provide and maintain a Navy; 

14. To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land 
and naval Forces; 

15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of 
the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, 
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service 
of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appoint¬ 
ment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

17. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over 
such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of 
particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of 
the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over 
all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in 
which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, 
dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And 

18. To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested 
by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any 
Department or Officer thereof. 


14 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Section VIII sets forth a number of important and 
Powers Ex- interesting powers of Congress. These are 
firessly Given stated in the first sixteen paragraphs. 
to Congress In order to meet the expenses of the 

Government, Congress has the right to levy taxes 
on property owned by any person or group of 
persons. A tax or duty may likewise be laid on goods 
brought into the United States from other countries. 
Excises, on the other hand, are taxes laid upon certain 
articles made at home, such as tobacco and liqfuors. In 
addition, there are issued, at times, special revenue 
stamps for drugs, merchandise, etc. 

Congress has the power to borrow money. Other¬ 
wise all money used would have to be raised by immediate 
taxation. When great national improvements are made, 
or when the country is made safe against those who attack 
it, it is right that some of the expense should be shared 
by those of a following generation, who profit by that 
which has been provided for them. 

Congress has power to regulate commerce between all 
the States of the Union. This trade between States 
is known as Interstate Commerce . 

The United States was the first great Power to de¬ 
clare that a citizen could give up his allegiance to the 
country of his birth for the country of his adoption. This 
Republic has given protection and equal opportunities 
to more adopted citizens than any other country in the 
world. 

Congress has the power to establish inferior Federal 
Courts, also boards of arbitration to settle differences or 
controversies, particularly between groups or organiza¬ 
tions of citizens. 

The Founders of the Constitution feared militarism. 
Congress only can declare war, and even Congress cannot 
appropriate money for the army for a period longer than 


15 





THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


two years. This restriction does not apply to the navy. 
It has been said that, “No nation was ever deprived of 
its liberty by its navy.” 

Paragraph 17 contains a provision for the creation of 
the seat of the Federal Government, now known as the 
District of Columbia, in which is the city of Washington. 
It provides also for the government of the District and all 
United States Government Reservations. 

The last paragraph in Section VIII provides for the 

passage of all laws needed to carry out these and all other 

duties and obligations of the Government as laid down in the 

Constitution . 0 TX _ 

Section IX 

1. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, 
but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding 
ten dollars for each Person. 

2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be sus¬ 
pended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety 
may require it. 

3. No Bill of Attainder, or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 

4. No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Pro¬ 
portion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 

5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. 

6. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce 
or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall 
Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay 
Duties, in another. 

7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence 
of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of 
the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published 
from time to time. 

8. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: 
And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, 
without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolu¬ 
ment, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or 
foreign State. 

Paragraph 1 is a matter of history, wherein the Con¬ 
stitution provided against the bringing in of African slaves 
after the year 1808. 


16 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


The “Writ of Habeas Corpus ” is a basic safeguard of 
personal liberty. It means, in short, that no citizen shall 
be denied the right of trial in a civil court . 

In the following paragraphs, the Constitution puts an 
end to the once common practice which deprived without 
trial persons of all civil rights and of power to inherit or 
transmit property. In regard to “ex post facto ” legisla¬ 
tion, this Section provides against the enactment of laws 
making any act a crime which was not a crime at the time 
the act was committed. 


Section X 

1. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; 
grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; 
make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; 
pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the 
Obligation of Contracts, or grant any title of Nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any 
Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws; and the net Produce of all 
Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be 
for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall 
be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. 

S. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty 
of Tonnage, keep Troops or Ships of War, in time of Peace, enter into 
any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, 
or Engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger 
as will not admit of delay. 


The three paragraphs of Section 10 were designed to 
limit those functions of government (formerly exercised 
Rights of the by the States) which conflicted with the good 
State Govern - G f the whole Union. On the one hand, the 
Federal * 1 tke Federal Government was forbidden to do 
Government certain things which interfered with certain 


rights or privileges of the several States; on the other, the 
States were limited in the exercise of such powers as 
would interfere with the usefulness or efficiency of the 


Federal Government. 


17 





THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


ARTICLE II 

Section I 

1. The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of 
four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same 
Term, be elected as follows: 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature 
thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number 
of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in 
the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an 
Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed 
an Elector. 

3. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant 
of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the 
Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Govern¬ 
ment of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate ancLHouse of 
Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be 
counted. The Person having the greatest number of Votes shall be the 
President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors 
appointed; and if there be more than one who have such a Majority, and 
have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
immediately chuse, by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person 
have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List, the said House 
shall in like manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, 
the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State 
having one vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or 
Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the 
President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors 
shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who 
have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice- 
President. 

4. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the 
same throughout the United States. 

5. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be 
eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to 
that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, 
and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. 

6. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his 
Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of 
the said Office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the 


18 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resigna¬ 
tion, or Inability both of the President and Vice President, declaring 
what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act ac¬ 
cordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

7. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a 
Compensation, which shall neither be Increased nor diminished during 
the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive 
within that Period, any other Emolument from the United States, or an;y 
of them. 

8. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the 
following Oath or Affirmation:—“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and 
will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States.’* 

The manner of the election of the 
Election of President and the Vice-President is set 
President and forth in paragraphs 2 to 4. This has been 
Vice-President changed under the terms of Amendment 
XII, (see page 28). 

The remainder of this Section determines the quali¬ 
fications of the President for his high office; they provide 
also for someone to take his place in case of “removal, 
death, resignation, or inability;” and lastly, they pre¬ 
scribe the words of his “Oath of Office.” 

Section II 

1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and 
Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the 
Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the Executive De¬ 
partments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective 
Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for 
Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 

2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the 
Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present 
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent 
of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other Public Ministers, and 
Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the 
United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided 
for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law 
vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the 
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 

3. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may 
happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which 
shall expire at the End of the next Session. 


19 





THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


Section III 

1. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of 
the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such 
Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on ex¬ 
traordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in 
Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the time of Ad¬ 
journment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; 
he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take 
Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the 
Officers of the United States. 

Section IV 

1. The President, Vice-President, and all civil Officers of the United 
States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction 
of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 

The powers and duties of the President as set forth 
in Section II of Article II are broad and various. Presi- 
Powers and dents of a strong-willed type, like Andrew 
Duties of the Jackson, have exercised unusual powers. 
President ^t other times, as under Andrew Johnson, 

Congress overrode the veto of the President, and the 
Legislative Branch of the Government overshadowed the 
Executive. At still other times, the Judicial Division 
(see Article III) assumes especial prominence. When, for 
example, Congress passed and the President approved an 
income tax law , the Supreme Court declared the law 
contrary to certain provisions of the Constitution as laid 
down in Article I, Sections II and IX. After this decision 
had been handed down, Congress proposed and secured an 
Amendment (XVI) to the Constitution making an income 
tax possible. 

Section III suggests no comment other than to call 
attention to the important power of the President in the 
matter of “convening” or calling Congress together. 

Section IV makes especial provision for the trial or 
removal from office of any of the civil officers of the 
United States. 

ARTICLE III 

Section I 

1. The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one 
supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may, from 


20 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


time to time, ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme 
and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and 
shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which 
shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. 

Section II 

1. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, 
arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and 
Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all 
Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to 
all Cases of Admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to 
which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two 
or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another State;—be¬ 
tween Citizens of different States,—between Citizens of the same State 
claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or 
the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens, or Subjects. 

2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and 
Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a Party, the supreme Court 
shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before men¬ 
tioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to 
Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such regulations as the 
Congress shall make. 

3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall 
be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said 
Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any 
State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by 
Law have directed. 

Section III 

1. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying 
War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and 
Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testi¬ 
mony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open 
Court. 

2. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of 
Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, 
or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. 

Section I of Article III provides for the highest Court 
of Law of the Republic —the United States Supreme Court . 
There is a Chief Justice, together with eight associate 
Justices, all of whom are appointed by the President and 
hold their offices during good behavior. They may be 
impeached or called to account by the representatives 
of the people in Congress. “In dignity and moral in- 


21 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


fluence,” says Bryce, “it outranks all other judicial tri- 
Dutiesand bunals in the world.” 

Powers of This Section provides also, that there 

the Judicial shall be established by Congress, as need 
Division should arise, a number of Inferior Courts 
throughout the Union. These “Inferior Courts” are 
known as Federal District Courts , as distinguished from 
the Courts established throughout the several States for 
the purposes of local administration of justice . 

Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Section II set forth the juris¬ 
diction or extent of the Judicial Power. Paragraph 3 
contains the very important provision that those accused 
have the right to trial by jury. 

Paragraph 1 of Section III defines “treason against the 
United States,” the last clause of which provides liberal 
protection for the person or persons accused of treason. 

Paragraph 2 of this Section grants Congress power to 
punish treason; but in the next clause, the Constitution 
protects the innocent children of the person or persons 
convicted against the once common practice of visiting 
upon their children the penalties directed against those 
found guilty. 

ARTICLE IV 

Section I 

1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public 
Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the 
Congress may by general Laws prescribe the manner in which such Acts, 
Records, and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. 

Section II 

1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and 
Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 

2. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other 
Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall 
on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, 
be delivered up to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the 
Crime. 

3. No Person held to Service or Labour, in one State, under the 
Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law 
or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but 
shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or 
Labour may be due. 


22 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Section III 

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress inlo this Union; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of 
any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more 
States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the 
States concerned as well as of the Congress. 

2. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all need¬ 

ful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property 
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be 
so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any 
particular State. Section I\ 

1. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a 
Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against 
Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive 
(when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence. 

In Section I of this Article, the Constitution declares 
that each State shall respect the “public proceedings” of 
all the other States. 

Paragraph 1 of Section II protects the rights of the 
citizens of each State in all the other States. Paragraph 2 
^ D , provides for the “extradition,” or bringing 

Between the back, of accused persons who seek to evade 
States the law of one State by fleeing to another. 

Paragraph 3 applies to that period in the history of 
the United States when persons (negroes brought from 
Africa) were held in servitude. 

Under the provisions of Section IV, no State may, for 
example, set up an autocratic form of government. The 
States are guaranteed protection by the Federal Govern¬ 
ment against invasion from without. They are also aided, 
if need be, against insurrection from within. 

ARTICLE V 

1. The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall 
call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, 
shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, 
when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, 
or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode 
of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no 
Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight 

23 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses 
in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its 
Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 

Article V provides for two methods of amending the 
Constitution, whenever two-thirds of both Houses of 
Methods of Congress “shall deem it necessary.” The 
Amendment first methc 1 has, however, been the only 
or Change one use d i devising Amendments; that is, 
two-thirds of the Houses of Congress agree on the form of 
proposed Amendment; the Amendment is then submitted 
to the States and becomes effective upon the “ratification” 
or approval of three-fourths of the States through their 
respective Legislatures. 


ARTICLE VI 

1. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the 
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall 
be made in pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law 
of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any 
Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwith¬ 
standing. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be 
bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no 
religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or 
public Trust under the United States. 


In paragraph 2, the Constitution asserts the supreme 
authority of the Federal Government over the States in 
Federal Re- regard to the laws of the Federal Govem- 
lations with me nt or the treaties made under that au- 
fJZl thority. 

Debts, etc . The Constitution further prescribes that 

Senators, Representatives, all other officials of the United 
States Government, and the members of the State 
Legislatures are bound by oath, as in the case of the 
President, (see Article II, Section I, Paragraph 8), to 
support the Constitution of the United States. 


24 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


The religious freedom of all officials is provided for 
by the last clause of this paragraph. 

ARTICLE VII 

1. The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be 
sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States 
so ratifying the same. 

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent 
of the States present the Seventeenth Day of 
* September in the Year of our Lord one thousand 

seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the 
Independence of the United States of America 
the Twelfth In Witness whereof We have here¬ 
unto subscribed our Names, 

Go: WASHINGTON —Presidt. 

[Here follow the names of the signers.] 

Constitution Article VII is of historical interest. Here 
D°y it was provided when the Constitution should 

go into effect; namely, after nine States 
“shall have ratified” it. 

AMENDMENT I 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, 
and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 

Soon after the Constitution was adopted as the 
“supreme” law of the United States, twelve Amendments 
were offered. Two of the twelve then offered were 
rejected by the States, but the remaining ten were adopted. 
Nine of these ten guard the rights of the people against 
military , civil, and religious tyranny. 

Religious tyranny had driven to American shores a 
large number of the first settlers. Their descendants, 
Freedom of therefore, were determined that this kind of 
Religion , thing should not be in America. Therefore, 

Speech , and i n the First Amendment, they provided 
Press against the establishment of any church 

supported by the Government. 

The framers of this Amendment sought, also, to 
guarantee all possible freedom of speech and press. Abso- 


25 





THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


lute freedom of action or speech is not meant, for that may 
be given to no one. No man, for example, may have 
such freedom of speech as to slander his neighbor to his 
neighbor s hurt . On the other hand, except in times of 
great public danger, Americans have ever had freedom 
of speech both to criticize those in authority and, in every 
orderly way, to seek “redress of grievances.” 

AMENDMENT II 

A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free 
State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be in¬ 
fringed. 

AMENDMENT III 

No Soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without 
the consent of the Owner, nor, in time of war, but in a manner to be 
prescribed by law. 

AMENDMENT IV 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported 
by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be 
searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

Amendments II, III, and IV were designed to 
protect the people from arbitrary acts of military power. 

Ever since the adoption of the Constitution, 
the rights of private citizens have been more 
secure against military aggression in America 
than anywhere else in the world . In times of 
war and great public danger, however, some accustomed 
rights have been curtailed or suspended until the restora¬ 
tion of peace and quiet. 

AMENDMENT V 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise in¬ 
famous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, 
except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when 
in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be 
subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; 
nor shall be compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness against him- 


Protection 

Against 

Military 

Aggression 


26 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


self, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just 
compensation. 

AMENDMENT VI 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have 
been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and 
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; 
to have compulsory process for obtaining Witnesses in his favor, and to 
have the assistance of Counsel for his defence. 

AMENDMENT VII 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United 
States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

AMENDMENT VIII 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

AMENDMENT IX 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

In Amendments V to IX, the rights of 

Protection the people are protected against abuses of the 

Civil Injustice ^ aw > or abuses on the part of officials in civil 

life . 

AMENDMENT X 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, 
or to the people. 

In the development of America, there has been a 
great deal of argument about the Tenth Amendment, 
Defining the which was designed to set forth more clearly 
Spheres of than had been stated in the preceding 
Stab and Articles of the Constitution, the powers of 
Authority the State Governments , on the one side, and 
the powers of the Federal Government on the other. The 
framers of the Constitution were most careful about pre- 


27 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


serving the rights of the States (local self-government) 
and of the rights of private citizens. This Amendment 
was designed to make these rights even more secure. 

AMENDMENT XI 

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one 
of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or 
Subjects of any Foreign State. 

A Special This Amendment limits the powers of 

Limitation the United States courts by preventing the 
Federal Government from being a party in 
e era ower j aw gu j^ g b roU gbt by citizens of any State 

against the Government of another State . 

AMENDMENT XII 

Section I 

The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot 
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists of all 
persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice- 
President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the United 
States, directed to the President of the Senate;—the President of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Represen¬ 
tatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted;— 
The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be 
the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the 
persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of 
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose 
immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, 
the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state 
having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall 
not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice- 
President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other con¬ 
stitutional disability of the President. The person having the greatest 
number of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such 


28 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and 
if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose 
shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, a majority 
of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person con¬ 
stitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of 
Vice-President of the United States. 

Election of The wording of this Amendment is 

President and i on g an( j somewhat tedious. It sets aside 
tee rest ent ^ original method of electing the President 
and Vice-President as laid down in Article II, Section I, 
paragraph 3. 

To one unacquainted with the workings of the 
American form of Government, it would seem that the 
people of each State vote for a group of men, who, in turn, 
vote for their choice for President and Vice-President. 

In actual practice, however, these groups of men, or 
Presidential “electors,” as they are called, are “agents.” 
Their sole duty is to record the choice for President of the 
majority of the voters in their respective States or State 
Districts . The people of the United States, therefore, 
vote directly for their Chief Magistrate or President. 

AMENDMENT XIII 

Section 1 

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment 
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist 
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Section II 

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 

AMENDMENT XIV 

Section 1 

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to 
the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall 
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; 


29 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 


nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, with¬ 
out due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

Section II 

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of 
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right 
to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice- 
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Execu¬ 
tive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of 
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the 
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male 
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Section III 

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or 
elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously 
taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United 
States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or 
judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United 
States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, 
or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a 
vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. 

Section IV 

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by 
law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. 
But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 
or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all 
such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Section V 

The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, 
the provisions of this article. 

AMENDMENT XV 

Section I 

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied 
or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Section II 

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 


30 





UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Amendments XIII to XV are chiefly of historical 
interest. They refer to the abolition of negro slavery 
Abolition of an d consequent legislation. They were rati- 
Slavery in the fled by three-fourths of the States in 1865, 
United States lg6g) and lg70 resp ectively. 

Briefly, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slav¬ 
ery; the Fourteenth secured certain Constitutional rights 
for the former slaves; and the Fifteenth declared that 
no one should be denied suffrage because of his “race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude.” 

AMENDMENT XVI 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes 
from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several 
states and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

AMENDMENT XVII 

Section I 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators 
from each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each 
senator shall have 9 ne vote. The electors in each state shall have the 
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the 
state legislature. Section 11 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the 
Senate, the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election 
to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any state may em¬ 
power the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the 
people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. 

Section III 

This amendment shall not be construed as to affect the election or 
term of any senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Con¬ 
stitution. 

AMENDMENT XVIII 

Section I 

After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, 
sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation 
thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and ail 
territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby 
prohibited. SeeHon n 

The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to 
enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 


31 




THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


Section III 

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as 
an amendment to the Constitution by the Legislatures of the several 
States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date 
of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress. 

Reference has been made, (page [20), to the income 
tax law that was declared “unconstitutional” by the United 
Income Tax, States Supreme Court. Those in favor of 
Direct Elec - the income tax legislation made an income 
United States * ax P oss ^le by securing the passage of the 
Senators, Sixteenth Amendment. Under this Amend- 
Prohibition me nt, a man with an income of $1,000,000 
or more, pays over half of his income to the Federal 
Government. A man of small means pays but a small 
percentage or none at all. 

Reference has also been made, (page 12),to the change 
in the method of the election of Senators as first laid down 
in Article I, Section III. This change was brought about 
by Amendment XVII; and, after the first ten, no Amend¬ 
ment was ratified by the States so quickly as this one. 

Amendment XVI was proclaimed in effect in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1913; Amendment XVII was proclaimed in March, 
1913; and Amendment XVIII, prohibiting the sale of 
intoxicating beverages, went into effect in January, 1920. 

No one can fairly say that the Government of the 
United States has been or is perfect. Again, no one can 
Rights and truthfully deny that some of the provisions 
involve 68 ^° nst ^ u ^ on have, at times, been 

Duties and abused or even violated. A working knowl- 
Obligations edge of the important parts of this great charter 
of popular government , by all the people , will do more than 
anything else to prevent such abuse and to preserve and 
secure the rights and privileges of a free people under the 
simple but wonderfully complete plan set forth in the 
Constitution of the United States of America. 


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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



Hon . Franklin K. Lane says: 


I T is our boast and our glory that we have a 
form of government under which men can 
make their conception of society into law, if 
they can persuade their neighbors that their 
dream is one that will benefit all. There is 
nothing more absurd than to contend that the 
last word has been spoken as to any of our in¬ 
stitutions, that all experimenting has ended and 
that we have come to a standstill status. We 
are growing. But this does not mean that all 
change must be growth and that we cannot test 
by history, especially by our own experiences and 
knowledge, the value of whatever is proposed 
as a substitute for what is. The dog, that 
dropped the meat to get the shadow of a bigger 
piece, is the classical warning. We are for what 
is, not because it is the absolute best, but be¬ 
cause it has worked well. It is sacred only 
because it has been useful. Until a system of 
government or of economics or of home life can 
be demonstrated to be an improvement on what 
we have, we shall not hysterically and fancifully 
forsake those which have served us thus far. 

Our government is not our master, but our 
tool, adaptable to the uses for which it was de¬ 
signed; our servant, responsive to our call. This 
makes revolution an absurdity. But it also 
makes a s^nse of responsibility, a necessity. And 
while we may not have broken down in this 
regard, we certainly have weakened. We have 
proceeded in the belief, that automatically all 
men would come to see things as we do, have a 
sense of the value of our traditions and a con¬ 
sciousness of the deep meanings of our national 
experiences. The things we believed in, we have 
not taught. Hence, the need for just such in¬ 
stitutions as the Constitutional League which, 
however, cannot do for each of us the duty that 
is ours of living the spirit of our Constitution. 


January 31, 1920 











